So get inspired, and support these incredible LGBTQ+ designers making waves in the creative industry. 

7 LGBTQ Designers You Should Know About

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4 Visual Accessibility Resources for Designers

Designs are only as successful as your user makes them out to be.

Jinkx Monsoon "The Ginger Snapped" // Tour Intro Animation

Daniel Quasar - transmit (Official Music Video)

7 Non-Binary Designers You Should Know About

7 Nonbinary Designers You Should Know About

Brands have gone to court over color trademark battles for years - check out some of the biggest color wins.

Can you own a color?

Two chocolate companies walk into a courtroom to battle over... the color purple. 

7 Female Designers You Should Know About

Houston Landing is a local nonprofit newsroom with no paywalls to provide essential journalism that empowers our communities.

Meet Houston Landing: designing the next frontier of local news

A new, nonprofit and nonpartisan news outlet for local voices.

Seven Black Designers You Should Know About

When we look at design history books, we see Eurocentric covered pages with names, photos, and pieces of work. These books ultimately set the standard in student’s minds on what “good design” looks like. The books that influence our outlook on the design world lack representation and voices from influential designers of color who played crucial parts in shaping that said design world.  It’s no secret that black designers are overlooked and under-applauded. It’s time to change that reality by learning their names, recognizing their work and teaching the new generation of designers that ‘good design’ is more expansive than what a design history textbook can hold.

7 Black Designers You Should Know

7 Native American Designers You Should Know About

Support Indigenous designers in the creative industry.

7 Asian + Asian-American Designers You Should Know About

This AAPI Heritage Month we wanted to highlight these Asian + Asian American designers. Maybe you'll find a new favorite designer.

Expand your design horizons this AAPI Heritage Month.

Movistar: Love Story

H&M Conscious: Bring it on

Propaganda Bandwagon - Old Navy Commercial

Always #LikeAGirl

Things Go Better With Coke

Full Pepsi Commercial Starring Kendal Jenner

Beats By Dre | Powerbeats Pro | Unleashed

Febreze Commercial-Josh's room

Samsung Note 9 Dongle (DEX) Commercial

He Said Cigarettes To Women Are "Torches Of Freedom"

FLEX  TAPE® Commercial

The word propaganda carries a lot of negative weight compared to the word advertising. Propaganda is associated with evil, manipulation and a dystopian society. Whereas advertising is associated with an annoying, unavoidable but scrollable, part of our day-to-day life.
One feels harmful, the other feels harmless. 

Propaganda is limited to a specific agenda or mission. Advertising builds upon that by adding in goods, services, and ideas. Many, if not all of the day-to-day ads we scroll past or walk by incorporate some level of propaganda to pursued you into buying that said good, service, or switching up how you view something.

Propaganda in Advertising

Red means stop and green means go, but what happens when you are red-green color blind?

The Traffic Light Flaw

A deep and semi-unscientific look into how designers simplify in order to create.

Why Do Designers Wear Black?

Color runs through our veins as designers but we don’t wear it on our sleeves. 

A deep-dive into the history, complexities and clarity that comes with logos.

Why Are Logos A Thing?

Let's throw it back to the very beginning of logo design.

Bill and Jo discuss inclusivity, diversity and the importance of civic action while taking a look at the League of Women Voters of Houston brand.

Offset Path: The League of Women Voters of Houston

“Offset path” is a function in design program Adobe Illustrator. It’s also the name of our design discussion series that looks at how Black Sheep rebellious brands and campaigns for social impact that are different from, well, the usual “path.” To know when Offset Path episodes are announced or to watch us live on Instagram, follow @shearcreativity. Hosts are Black Sheep’s Creative Director Jo Skillman and Senior Designer/Illustrator Bill Ferenc.

Bill and Jo talk through the process of building Houston and Harris County’s “YES! to the Census” campaign to prevent an undercount for Census 2020.

YES! to the Census

Transforming healthcare for children and their families: Doug Dietz at TEDxSanJoseCA 2012

A greater understanding of empathy in design.

The Power of Empathy in Design

Why your brand needs a purpose, a personality and a point of view to live in the real world

Branding Like You Mean It

We believe in the power of great design to build creative concepts that push nonprofit communities to the brink of action.

How to use design to activate people for good

For years I’ve been designing logos, brands, and engagement campaigns for a brand strategy and creative agency called Black Sheep. We’re called Black Sheep for all the reasons you might guess: We do things differently. We’re ahead of the curve. We break the rules. Blah, blah, blah, insert predictable design agency phrase here. 

Donating Your Work: Don’t Get Taken for a Ride

Raise your hand if you’ve ever been hit up for free (or deeply discounted) work.

Keep your hand up if you said yes to doing the free (or deeply discounted) work because it was “for a good cause.”

Drop that hand onto your face if you ended up hating everything about the experience of the free (or deeply discounted) work you ended up doing. That’s a facepalm, and it’s the correct response to a whole lot of the donated work designers and marketers end up doing.

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Did you let Valentine’s creep up on you? Were you bummed with the lack of creativity in this year’s crop of cards?

Valentine’s Printables

The world is loud with urgency, and it’s easy to feel stretched thin by everything demanding our attention. We get it. That’s why we’re channeling our energy, creativity and care into a focused set of Social Impact Areas—issues that move us and guide the work we do every day.

These are the issues that stir us up and move us forward—areas where we’re choosing to go deeper instead of trying to do it all at once. They give shape to our research, creative work and client collaborations, helping us stay grounded in what matters most.

For 2025, we’re digging in on three core impact area themes: 

We believe joy is fuel for change. It connects us, uplifts us and reminds us what we’re fighting for. From LGBTQ+ rights to building more inclusive workplaces, we’re elevating the moments that make us feel seen, celebrated and free.

Everyone deserves to feel safe. But right now, too many people don’t. We’re examining the systems that shape that reality—from reproductive rights to housing, climate, and community violence—and working toward a world where peace, dignity, and protection are the norm.

Young people aren’t just the future—they’re leading right now. We’re showing up to support their vision, amplify their voices and make sure the next generation has the tools, mental health support and community power to dream big and drive change.

These themes aren’t limits—they’re launchpads. Inside each one lives a network of vital, interconnected issues: from LGBTQ+ rights and work culture to gun safety, reproductive healthcare, mental health and climate justice. We’ll be writing, building, reflecting and co-creating throughout the year, and we’d love to have you in the mix.

Want to follow along, get inspired or share your work with us? Sign up for updates here.

Progress takes all of us. By learning, building and taking action together, we can push for a future that’s more just, joyful and secure.

So much needs fixing. Where do we even start?

Finding Focus in a Noisy World: Our Social Impact Areas

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How do you stay focused when everything feels urgent? We’re grounding our work in three Social Impact Areas to explore the issues that matter most and move with more purpose in 2025.

The Black Sheep blog is turning up the volume on community engagement, social media strategy, Houston happenings and what it means to lead a purpose-driven life.

The Black Sheep Agency | Social impact and nonprofit blog

We like to type as much as we like to listen.

We're not shy.